LisaA

just filled yesterday? or how long, my doc has me complete the day of my fill on clear liquids, next day full liquids, next day mushies, then the proteins and veggies a bit soft the final day. but that is a good sign, I have been filled and on the above regiment feel starving. so that's great.

Oh yeah, this is funny, I just bought a little 2x4" digital scale, to keep in my purse, and make it easier to measure stuff, which makes it easier to track stuff.

good luck ebeez- I think I might go for a fill soon. you can get this moving, I am trying too been platued for months now I like the recipes in a book and the meal plans, called The instinct diet. her meal plans are 1200 calories, but some of the stuff was too um sticky- bready, for me, so I just deleted those, or changed to things I can eat. also worldaccordingtoeggface.com has great recipes for lap band people. I especially like the egg bites, mini crustless quiches that I freeze 3 at a time for breakfasts.

Hi there again, so I'm very excited, probably for the first time all year, I ffnished the day with less then 950 calories, still didn't drink enough water, but my carbs are under 45, woo hoo, and my protein is 75, that is all great for me. my dessert, in celebration of my one year anniversary, I had 1/2 of a pumkin yumminess shake from this web site. http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2010/10/pumpkin-yumminess.html pretty yummy. oh and I did 40 minutes of zumba this morning. my goal is to try to get to 100 lbs gone by the new year, which will mean 2lbs gone per week, something I haven't achieved in more then 6 months. I think I can I think I can I think I can

Oh remember not everyone!!!and there are varying degrees, in 3 months I only lost 7 lbs total. uggg. I have 8 cc's, I have a friend with 9 you have lots of room, ask your dr to be aggressive. have you hesitated to get a fill because of expense, explain to them that this is an issue and that you'd like them to be aggressive. try to find a cheaper way to get a fill without endangering yourself- my place is 150 for a fill- I"m self pay, it's a blind fill. I had one flouro fill and I liked it but it's too expensive for me. Definately change, commit to the weight loss. One thing that helped me be on track in the begining was the hard core diet before the band- where I did 1 protein shake and 2 lean cuisines a day, - I did that for a month- sometimes instead of lean cuisine it was just a mean less then 350 calories of my own design. Now lean cuisine is hard for me becuase there is so much starch that is hard for me to eat- but eating like the sort of broke my focus on food, and increased my connection with weight loss I also did fiber in the morning, and fiber in the afternoon and cromium piccolate maybe try something stark like that- if the lean cuisine is too expensive, figure out another meal that is less then 350 cals, if you like to home cook. just use the recipe calculator on spark people .com to see exactly how big of serving your recipes are. world according to eggface has tons of resources too, great inspriation and great recipes, and tips to get more protein. make sure your protein is above 75 a day or your body will not let any weight go. you could even go starker and do 2 shakes and 1 meal per day. but solid foods are always better. YOu can do this!!!! it's hard, the band should be dimming your hunger, but you should working at seeing how little you can eat, not how much. and drink lots of water. just get a change started, recommit. you can do this, plus do some activity start out with walking for 30 minutes 5 days a week and build on that, the weather is nice for that , or do it in a mall or some other big building, or on a treadmill. We are all here for you.

SO i HAVE A RANT! I have started really tracking all things that go into my mouth, In an attempt to really get more weight off faster then 7 lbs since July 10 LOL. My rant is that I've been doing some meal replacement with protein shake, I was always trying to do solid foods, anyway at first as usually my carbs seemed so high, but then I found out I was using 1 scoop and the nutrition info was for 2 scoops. so that helped me out. but still. my calories are always below 1200, but the carbs, holy crap, averaging between 60-70, it's such a struggle. also, did I already say I was having a lot of hair falling out and an unusual amount of black heads, but now that I've started taking the hair skin and nails supplement it seems to have slowed down and gotten much better. Well really I just want to say the above carb rant cause honestly without tracking I would never see this, So for those that are really struggling and haven't lost much weight, the key is religious tracking, even for a few weeks, of everything you take in, and really paying attention to it all, not just calories, not just protein, and if something isn't working maybe alter things within that.

you rock papoose, can not wait till I am in a size 14. I'm still wearing size 20s, but I think I'm actually a size 18 now, they are big on me. I try to wait till they are falling off of my to change. LOL. Congrats, you have done excellent.

Ok so my bandaversary is 8 days away, I don't think I will make my mini goal, so far not even the water. ugg- I think I will be at 230 (70 lbs lost) by then. going in the right direction, but like a snail. I'm picking up a new zumba class this week. I need to follow my advice LOL. I'm back on the fit day journal this week. One thing I will say, is my hair was falling out, faster and faster, and I felt my skin was not as nice. so I bought some of this hair, nails, skin bioten supplements, and almost over night it's made a difference. I thought since my multivitamin had 100% bioten that I didn't need it and it was probably not enough protein. but honestly I keep my protein up around 70 a day, Also, I've been very tight this week, strange, no fill, just tighter then usual. That seems normal however. Lisa

I think about this a lot - if this was the right surgery or not. I too get frustrated, and want more weight loss then I've had. But I do know 2 peple who had bipasses, and they are both extremely over weight now, 6-8 years later. and there is no surgery to fix that. it's done and can't be altered. I do admit that the fill process is a drag, and makes it difficult, and plication is interesting for someone like me who had surgery in Mexico very far from my home. But this thing that is a pain is also the thing that is appealing to me, it is adjustable! therefore it can be changed as my body changes, and even removed. the other thing I always say is that if I am following the rules, and my calories are down, which often happens, my calories are below 1100, and my carbs are fairly low, less then 60 all the time, sometimes less then 40. And I still plateau for months even, and I work out 30 minutes a day 4-5 days a week. but surgery is not going to help that. my body is working against me, which it always has. It is a lot of work. and bypass still doesn't stop make me exercise or to adopt healthy eating habits, which in the end, that part that is missing from that surgery, is why the people I know, who lost a lot of weight, have now gained it all back. I just need to change what I'm doing when I plateau, or sometimes even accept for periods that the body does just naturally plateau. and changing isn't always eating less, or even exercising more. but other ways of trying to figure it out, periods of less calories and periods of more, exercising differently and more. drinking water. Keeping track so I know what to change or where exactly I'm not doing what I need. it's focusing, and commitment, and not just coasting. that's what I need and because I'm not in an area with good support groups I need these online groups to keep me on, keep me motivated, keep me positive and keep me focused. Hopefully those of you that are frustrated can find help to keep you or bring you to that place. I know when the weight is coming off, even with the band, is constant work, and being very focused- committed. I know my relationship to food has changed forever. I do exercise more, I know a lot more about what I eat. and when I plateau I don't gain it all back, it's a long haul thing, and we all are here to support each other, so thanks everyone for being here.

my doc was in mezico so I didn't have and groups locally- but some lap band surgeons also have support groups. some folks I've talked to get a lot of support also from over eaters anonymous. and also, I get some inspiration by watching a lot of the blogs on youtube. banded wendy and proof wls works were ones I liked. maybe get a fill and do an period of liquids, like a little longer then regular, my doc for a fill is 1 day before, and one day after clear liquids, then 1 day after full liquids. if you lost on liquid before maybe do like 3 days after full liquids, then 1 day soft, fish and cottage cheese- and then up to chicken and eggs.. then harder meat- and track it all. once you are on solids, do 3 weeks of tracking everythiing you eat, like on fit day.con or something. orr you could do the 2 lean cuisine meals and 1 liquid for a few weeks. munch on protein, keep the carbs down to less then 50. the more you pay a ttention the more it will come off, and water water water

ebeeze I was wondering how many cc's do you have? if the band isn't helping to dim the hunger between meals and snacks, like if you eat 3 solid meals and 2 less then 150 cal snacks with more then 6 g of protein and if you are still starving in between those things, maybe you could use more of a fill, or if you are exercising a lot maybe you aren't getting enough protein. if you are 300 lbs you should be getting like at leas 75 g of protein a day, and if you are active even more. i snack on lunch meat, jerky, cheese stick, etc. for hunger. some yogurt, especially the carbmaster kind. or you could make a protein shake fudgesicle with pritein shake and sugar free pudding in a little cup, frozen. plus if my huunger is really bad I'll also do fiber pills mid way between meal and snack. one in the morning and one in the afternoon with a bunch of water tool it helps curb the appetite.

oh ebeeze, i'm sorry you feel that way, have you started an exercise plan. maybe changing that up a bit, or the time of day or what not might help,

Hey all, you guys are so all doing so great, I have inched down to losing 68, I also wanted to be at 100 by this time. You are right about it being harder then I expected, and takes a lot of concentration and effort. I have so many plateaus, and I know i need to change things then but don't and sometimes even that doesn't make a difference. I'm not feeling like a failure, but am tired and trying to up my activity a notch. My anniversary is 9/27 an I"m hoping to make a challenge that by then I will have lost 80 lbs, don't know that it's going to happen but I'm going to keep trying anyway, see how close I can get. One thing is for sure, this is not the easy route, like many think, it is constant work, and being focused on what you eat and exercise, and my biggest problem, water. Lisa

hope it's ok, maybe since you just got filled it might be a good time to track you food, and your ecercise. see what your carbs cals and protein are.

oh no pookey, I had a mentor who had her band for years, had a fill, and 4 months lateer couldn't keep her own spit down, it hadn't slipped, she got some taken out. it turrned out ok. are you stressed at all, even if it did slip the sooner you get in and get the pressur off the better, the less irritation, hang in there girl, at least with the flouro they know what it all looked like before for a baseline.

ok so yo yo but I'm averaging below 235 finally, it looks like this 233 236 234 235 233. this is how it goes with me my water is not where i want it to be I'm doing zumba as I was getting bored with jogging and I'm doing a couple days with the dumbbells and other things at my desk still hoping to be at 220 by 9/27 hope you all are doing well.

i'm so glad you went, very smart advice.

so Moni, do you take synthetic fiber. I just get so backed up if I don't have a lot of fiber, so I do a lot of raw veggies, which don't hurt the calories, but much fiber adds some to the carbs. this is where I have trouble with the hardcore low carb. I'm just wondering if you deal with this at all.

Alright Moni, you are killing me, really? 25-30 carbs, wow, that is impressive, I shoot for 60 and feel great if I make that. you have to share what your typical meal day looks like? I can't imagine. Especially because some days I try to do less meat, like I probably do vegetarian like 3 times a week, and those days of course the carbs are higher, many years of being a vegetarian, and even a vegan, and now I see that probably had something / well a lot to do with my constant weight gain. anyway I'm dying to hear if you are willing to share.

I'm game, I'm yoyoing right now, September 27 is my anniversary, I'd like to be getting at least 50 oz or water a day 30 minutes of cardio of some type 6 dys a week and I hope to be at 220 lbs- but lately that is feeling out of reach, I'm yoyoing between 236 and 240 right now for the last few weeks. I'd like to try some insurance quotes at 220- I"m self employed and until I became a group- there were no individual plans I could even buy, and I think at 220 I might at least be able to try for them. who knows, that's where I am going to start trying.

Ok, so here are some interesting observations I have 1. I have never lost a pound on any of the liquid diets- I don't gain, but when my calories are that low my body holds the weight for dear life. I used to do a lot of starvation and purging like 30 years ago in junior high school. maybe that has something to do with it. 2. on vacation (after a 2 month plateau of not losing- not gainng but not losing) I lost 4 lbs- now I was active with swimming and bike riding every day, but I ate a lot too, way more then normal, I was very hungry also on vacation, as I think I needed a fill even before I went. before my vacation my diet was the same- I have gotten into a lull of just doing the same thing everyday, and I had been busy at work, so my regular work day snacks were not happening- so even less calories. Probably like 1000 a day is what it looked like after I started charting it. I know it's hard to imagine, but I believe that my activity needs to be more, and my food also needs to be more. 3. now that I have a fill, this is my first day on soft food, I feel like I get full very fast, but 3 hours in and I'm feeling hungry, a little cheese, like a tbl of shreded cheese, and 6 oz of kefir has me feeling very full, hopefully it lasts till lunch. now i have 8 ccs.- at least that's what the docs say, even although my fills say I'd be at 8.5, when I started with these blind fills they took everything out and I was .5 less then what I had been told. Anyway I offer this as my observations, that it might help those that are eating small amount and eating the right food and not losing, try changing it, and really try for at least 40 minutes of exercise, even if it's walking, just moving your body with the thought of exercise. Lisa

well i got another .5 ccs, I am tired, and hungry, I did liquids yesterday, and today water and broth,

Hi all, finally lost some weight, and I was on vacation, ate more, but was very active. I think a couple things helped, changing my calories, jacking them up a bit, and just plain changing them, I was doing the same thing day in and day out. plus more activity, I really have to do this in my regular life now. activity every day, not just 3-4 days a week. but here is some other thoughts, in the begining I was very focused, tracking what I ate, thinking about it all the time, and I lost, I didn;'t increase my food intake, but I got complaicent, just doing the same thing every day, not really paying much attention, - but I think it comes off more when I pay attention, and believe in myself, sort of like little prayers each day, meditation, and belief. I know it sounds religious or something, but really focusing my energy and my brain on it, and believing it will happen I think helps. might sound hokey but the mind is powerful, and the our cells respond to believing, the more you focus on feeling like a failure you more likely you will fail. Change things up, add activity, change your calories, even if it means eating more sometime, see if you get results, I was thinking of going back to my diet I did for the month before surgery, just to change things, the 1 protein shake, and 2 lean cuisines- now a lean cuisine is a problem for me, cause they are very starchy, but I could try to spread the eating out. but really raising the calories periodically is important. plus I go 50% protein- 30 carb 20 fat (or there abouts) if you are working out, change it- your body settles at the level you give it, and fights to protect you fat if it's not getting enough. I know all this stuff is what we all started out being bad at, and we all want it to be easier. But we all made a comitment, and are doing things to change a pattern we've had for a long while. we took the first step, but that doesn't mean it will be easy, we still have to work at it, and keep ahead of the body, and believe. Ebeeze, I think the bipas could be a mistake, I don't know, but atleast I'd go plication first not bypass. Although I think if your calories are down, and your activity is up, and you aren't losing, then surgery is not going to help. Plus there is a lot of years later failure with the bypass. Try changing things, try tracking closely, get your body movement up to at least 30 minutes a day. even if you do active things like vaccuming, and really think about it like excercise and sustain it for 30 minutes - they've done studies on that too, where if you focus on things you do regularly that are physical, and think about them like excercise and do them like excercise, moving quickly, timing how long, etc. that it really works better. just some thoughts. Lisa

to clarify, I meant walk/ jogging, LOL, and 5miles for the whole week. don't want to inflate my exercise. I also feel that my carbs are so low that I wonder if my fiber is lower then it should be. hey does anyone here know about using the fitday food diary, I just wonder about the percentages etc, it's all based in 2000 calories / day, I'm closer to 1000, so I wonder about if I can change that. do any of you calculate your nutrients based on calories today instead of using the RDA percentages.

course I also have real issues with enough water, and more excercise, right now I am sort of jog/ running for 4 days a week for about 5 miles total, and then walking another 2 miles with my family (not very aerobic) but I need to kick it up a bit. at least move my body everyday, which I am not doing now.